Milky Mist on track for IPO in 2026, despite market jitters, says CEO

Indian dairy maker Milky Mist will go ahead with its planned initial public offering this year despite volatile markets, its CEO said. He added that the company expects to maintain annual revenue growth of about 30%.The Tamil Nadu-based company received regulatory approval for an initial public offering worth 20.35 billion rupees ($223.72 million) in October 2025, a year in which India emerged as the second-largest IPO market, according to LSEG data. But this year’s tech services sell-off has cooled investor sentiment, with new listings such as Fractal Analytics and Shadowfax Technologies struggling on their debuts.

Milky Mist expects to list before regulatory approval expires in October, CEO K. Rathnam told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.

The consumer products company is banking on premium products such as Greek yogurt and protein-enhanced curd, which have become popular among India’s fast-growing, health-conscious working-age population.

“India is a protein-deficient country. So protein will be an important contributor for everyone, not just Milky Mist,” Rathnam said, adding that it also plans to launch protein-rich milk.

The company, which competes with Hatsun Agro and Heritage Foods, expects to continue to achieve sales growth of around 30% in the year ending March 31 and beyond. As of March 2025, the products were available at more than 350,000 stores.

The company is also targeting annual growth of 15% to ⁠20% in store coverage, and expects the contribution of fast delivery apps to total revenue to rise to 12% to 15% in three years, up from about a tenth currently. The company, which generated about 4% of revenue from exports in fiscal 2025, expects US sales to rise over the next one to two years as the India-US trade deal comes into effect.

($1 = 90.9620 Indian Rupees)